Winegard Co., a leader in the design and manufacture of mobile TV reception products, has introduced the RAYZAR Amplified Portable Indoor HD antenna.

According to a press release, the new, amplified version of the RAYZAR over-the-air antenna is capable of receiving local broadcast channels from up to 50 miles away and requires no assembly or permanent installation.

The razor-thin, multi-directional amplified antenna has the most advanced dual band (VHF/UHF) consumer antenna on the market, according to Winegard. It weighs just over 2 ounces, is .002 inches thick, measures just 12 inches by 13 inches and receives all local HD broadcast signals.

“We’ve designed the RAYZAR Amped as a razor-thin, flexible and feather light broadcast antenna that is a powerhouse at delivering free TV for those who enjoy the mobile lifestyle,” said

“The Amped is one of very few indoor dual band antennas on the market, which means consumers don’t have to worry about missing out on a major network that other UHF indoor antennas may experience,” said Winegard National Sales Manager Aaron Engberg.

Designed with Winegard’s “Clear Circuit Technology,” the embedded amplifier is able to amplify 100% of the signal at the element to maximize channel reception and minimize pixilation and dropouts for the best viewing experience possible.”

The antenna is black on one side and white on the other to match any décor, and is easy to set up. Simply connect the coaxial cable to a digital HDTV, position the antenna wherever signal is strongest, plug in the USB power cable with 110-volt or 12-volt adapter, and run a channel scan.

During the 2013 National Dealer Conference in San Diego, NTP Distribution Inc. honored Winegard Co. as a 2012 Vendor Partner. This marks the fifth consecutive year Winegard has received an award from NTP.

“It is a great honor for Winegard to receive this elite award once again,” said Keith Larson, national sales manager for mobile products at Winegard. “Winegard is committed to innovating new cutting-edge, high quality antennas. This year we launched the Carryout Anser Portable Satellite Antenna and Rayzar Portable Indoor HDTV antennas that have resulted in great success at the dealerships.”

Winegard, based in Burlington, Iowa, supplies their diverse line of satellite and over-the-air HD antennas to NTP, including TRAV’LER, RoadTrip, Carryout, Sensar, Rayzar and RoadStar along with a wide variety of accessories. For additional information visit Winegard.com.

Winegard Co. announced that it received Stag-Parkway’s “Peach” Award during the distributor’s annual ‘Driving Success’ Trade Show running this week in San Antonio, Texas.

According to a press release, this is Winegard’s fifth Peach Award, which recognizes innovative new product designs, outstanding product quality, dedicated customer service and support, communications with dealers and consumers and their superior dealer training program.

“I am extremely honored to accept this coveted Peach award,” said Aaron Engberg, director of mobile product division for Burlington, Iowa-based Winegard. “This is a result of never-ending hard work by everyone at Winegard and we are thrilled to add it to our collection. Stag-Parkway has been a key partner to Winegard and it is so rewarding to see our commitment and dedication recognized.”

Winegard supplies their complete line of satellite antennas and over-the-air TV antennas to Stag-Parkway, including TRAV’LER, RoadTrip, Carryout, Sensar, Rayzar and RoadStar antennas along with a wide variety of accessories.

Atlanta-based Stag-Parkway’s product management team uses a 10-point scale to measure supplier performance across four important business metrics. The overall score is then added to a subjective component that helps the company arrive at the final group of recipients.

During its 2013 National Dealer Conference in Red Wing, Minn., Northern Wholesale Supply Inc. honored Winegard Co.’s Carryout Anser Portable Satellite Antenna as the “Best New Item.” According to a press release, attending dealers cast their votes with the announcement made the final day of the show.

“We are thrilled to see such a great response from the dealers. When we developed this hybrid automatic antenna our goal was to design a portable antenna that was simple to use, yet very affordable for the consumer,” said Keith Larson, national sales manager for mobile products at Burlington, Iowa-based Winegard. “The Carryout Anser is unlike any other portable antenna out there. After setting the elevation, the antenna automatically finds the satellite making set up fast and easy.”

Winegard supplies a complete line of mobile products to Northern Wholesale Supply, including TRAV’LER, RoadTrip and Carryout satellite TV antennas, as well as Sensar and RoadStar over-the -air TV antennas, and a wide variety of accessories. To learn more about the Winegard Carryout Anser Portable antenna or other Winegard antennas, visit http://www.winegard.com/mobile.

Burlington, Iowa-based Winegard Co., a leader in antenna design, announced that on Nov. 16 the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Washington D.C., affirmed the jury verdict in its favor in the ongoing patent lawsuit against Electronic Controlled System, Inc. dba King Controls.

According to a press release, King Controls had previously accused Winegard’s Carryout product of infringing claims of two U.S. Patents owned by King Controls and had asserted more than $5 million in damages. Winegard stipulated that the Carryout product infringed the patents but argued and later proved the patents were invalid as obvious. A five-day jury trial was held in November 2011, where the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Winegard. in just over two hours of deliberations.

Winegard was represented by the law firm of Lane & Waterman LLP in Davenport, Iowa.

Newmar Corp. held its 2011 Vendor Appreciation Dinner Thursday night (Oct. 18) at Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury, Ind., in an unusual family-style dinner at which the Nappanee, Ind.-based motorhome builder took the time to recognize vendors from throughout the country who excel at the fine points of servicing Newmar as an original equipment manufacturer.

It’s something that Newmar, a family-held company, has done for 18 years — with the exception of a couple of years during the recession – hosting a dinner for the top-rated suppliers and presenting awards to a number of them.

“We do a bi-annual evaluation of about 150 vendors,” explains Mike O’Connell, vice president of purchasing for Newmar. “Through that process, we end up with scores, everything from ‘excellent’ to ‘unacceptable,’ and the people that we invite to this Vendor Appreciation dinner received excellent scores.”

Of the 44 suppliers and 140 diners in attendance at this year’s dinner, the top award, the “Virgil Miller Award of Excellence,” went to Industrial Finishes, an Elkhart, Ind.-based exterior paint supplier. On hand to accept the award were President Glenn Duckworth, Eastern Region RV Manager Rich Dotson and Mike Pratt, who’s in charge of business development.

In looking down the road in his dinner remarks, Newmar President Matt Miller said Newmar has put in place a succession plan that will keep the company in the family of his father, founder Mahlon Miller, for the next generation. And he said the company has been making headway as well in terms of product innovation, despite the limitations of the recent recession.

“We believe the future of our company is very bright,” said Miller. “We have taken the opportunity during the downturn to prepare ourselves for a lot of innovation, which we’ll be introducing in the next 12 to 18 months, and we’re not slowing down on that at all.”

“We have fewer dealers than we did before the downturn, but we have higher quality dealers, and we have initiatives underway to recruit more dealerships. We have fewer brands than we’ve had, but we’re more focused on the brands that we do have. And we feel good about where we’re at right now.”

If Newmar was coming out of “survival” mode at last year’s supplier dinner, added John Sammut, vice president of sales, the company this year “is getting back on the offensive in its approach to selling and marketing its products throughout the U.S. and Canada.”

In fact, Sammut said the last five weeks beginning with the week before the Elkhart’s 5th Annual RV Open House Week through mid-October were “the best five weeks of order writing at Newmar in four years.” For this and other strategic reasons, Sammut said, Newmar is accelerating production schedules to four units a day for the balance of 2012 and for some time into 2013.

Winegard Co. has introduced the paper-thin, translucent Rayzar HDTV broadcast antenna for the tailgating, camping and RV markets. At just 0.6 inches thick, this flat antenna can be hung on internal vehicle windows, making it ideal for tuning in local broadcast channels.

Weighing in at just over five ounces, the 12 inch by 13 inch patented Rayzar portable HDTV antenna finds and pulls in the local broadcast stations for free viewing. The unit can be rapidly set-up once the vehicle is parked and removed quickly for departure. The Rayzar requires no installation and offers a solution for RVs with little-to-no roof space available.

“The Rayzar is a great fit for the mobile lifestyle, the quick release suction cup clips make it easy to reposition the antenna at each location for maximum reception,” said Aaron Engberg, director of mobile products for Burlington, Iowa-based Winegard. “Consumers will be amazed at the almost Blu-ray quality picture and quantity of channels it pulls in for free wherever they are parked.”

Rayzar com, which retails for $44.99, also comes with 15 feet of mini coaxial cable giving the viewer flexibility in positioning the antenna where the signal is the strongest.

Stag-Parkway Inc. and Winegard Co. are giving RV dealers an exclusive offer to promote their own Winegard Super Sale in their stores this summer.

According to a press release, the exclusive offer is only being made available to RV dealers through Stag to help increase sales and traffic through their stores this summer. Dealers will be able to purchase Winegard products at significant savings during Stag’s “RV Ready For Summer? Sale” program during the month of May.

The Winegard Super Sale runs from June 25-July 27 to give dealers enough time to stock and merchandise their stores and take full advantage of the busy summer selling months and the July 4 holiday. The program includes a custom sales flyer that dealers will be able to customize using Stag’s new web-based marketing tool, DesignOnline. Dealers will be able to set their own sales prices and design their own coupon.

The two-page, four-color sales flyer features some of Winegard’s most popular satellites and antennas. Dealers will also get a free signage kit valued at $30 retail that includes posters, wobblers and custom shelftalkers with their own sales prices.

RV dealers can contact their STAG sales consultant or Winegard/DRG sales rep for program details.

According to a press release, Adams brings nearly a dozen years of experience in selling and installing satellite TV antennas on RVs for his own business. Adams will travel the western U.S. and Canada to train RV dealer technicians on proper installation and troubleshooting techniques for Winegard antenna products, such as TRAV’LER, RoadTrip and Sensar. He joins Winegard veteran dealer training specialist Mike Barum, who will focus his efforts on the eastern U.S.

Prior to joining Winegard, Adams and his wife Janet owned and operated their mobile installation and service company, RV Satellite Sales and Service and Internet Anywhere, and has been a Winegard dealer/installer since 2000. They will be living and traveling in their own RV, attending and supporting dealer open houses and rally events in addition to their dealer training activities.

“We are excited to have Bill join our team,” said Aaron Engberg, director of mobile products for Winegard. “Because of his experience, he has instant credibility with our dealer base and th eir customers and he understands the importance of great customer service. Winegard will now be able to better respond to the high demand for our training, which will ultimately improve our relations with dealers and thus the overall customer experience.”

Winegard’s four-hour training course, which is also certified by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association’s (RVIA) continuing education requirements, covers new products, installation and troubleshooting, receivers/programming and helpful online resources. While the program is geared for the techs, it is also beneficial for customer service and sales personnel that handle customer questions or deal with quoting installation prices.

Since launching the training program back in 2005, over 1,000 dealerships and just under 5,000 technicians have completed the program. To request Winegard training, click here.

“Rollin’ On TV” (ROTV) announced that satellite TV manufacturer Winegard Co. has signed on as a title sponsor for the remainder of 2012.

According to a press release, ROTV will be launching in mid-April promotions and contests with Burlington, Iowa-based Winegard both on TV and the web, along with on-location promotions at various RV events around the country. ROTV announced the winner in its first Winegard contest as Debbi Segina from Arkdale, Wis., who won a Winegard fully automatic, CARRYOUT satellite TV antenna.

Segina and her husband own a 1994 Winnebago Vectra motorhome and enjoy “all aspects of RVing from dry camping to full hook-up resort destinations. The contest promotion lasted six weeks and consisted of 30-second television ads along with an online promotion on our web site.

In addition, T. R. Arnold and Associates Inc., an internationally accredited certifier of quality management systems based in Elkhart, Ind., has joined ROTV as a national advertiser.

Operating under the name TRA Certification Inc. the company has been in the forefront of certifying “green construction” in the manufactured and modular housing industry and has now turned its expertise to the RV industry.